It is often desirable to increase the visibility of one's self over and above that which is obtained from ordinary clothing and ambient light, as well as to otherwise signal others. Examples of these types of situations include pedestrians along hazardous roadways and individuals in crowded areas.
One way of increasing visibility or signaling others is with the use of a vest which may include day-glow or reflective materials. An example of such a device is the safety vest disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,047,785 to Patterson. This prior art vest is comprised of a single, flat, rectangular sheet of flexible luminescent material having a hole for a person's head, and straps to tie the front to the back. While this prior art design may effectively increase the visibility of or draw attention to the wearer, it does not provide any ability to signal others or otherwise convey any information as to who the wearer is or what the wearer desires.
An example of a vest design that does signal and convey information is disclosed in Design U.S. Pat. No. 280,860. This prior art design, discloses a vest which includes a message on the front or back panel. This prior art design does have the ability to signal and convey information from or about the wearer, however, the signal or message conveyed is fixed and may not be changed without removing the vest and donning another. This would of course necessitate having and storing more than one vest.